


Closure

by MayLovelies



Category: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-13
Updated: 2018-03-13
Packaged: 2019-03-31 00:06:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,284
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13963008
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MayLovelies/pseuds/MayLovelies
Summary: Rex and Fives have a discussion about Echo's death, and more emotions are revealed than either suspected.





	Closure

“Fives. I thought I’d find you here.” Rex greeted, his voice soft, as he had spotted Fives just outside the barracks in one of the abandoned outdoor training grounds. Not many people came here anymore, if only to sit on the benches for a while to focus. Since the Citadel mission, Fives had been here often.

 

“Yeah.” Fives responded from the bench he sat at, his back turned to Rex. “Not much of a surprise, right?”

 

Rex didn’t say a word at first, he only joined Fives on his bench, surprised he moved over.

 

“You’ve been distant lately , Fives.” Rex finally spoke, not sure if those were the right words to say. But he certainly didn’t expect Fives to begin the conversation.

 

“You know why, Rex.” Fives replied, his voice soft and void of any anger. Just hurt and sadness. It was then Rex took a chance to look at his brother’s face. He was surprised to see Fives looked blank. No expression or anything, just a bland stare as he sat hunched over.

 

“I wish we could have done more for him.” Rex replied.

 

“We could have done more.” Fives said. “We could have gone back for him.” There was a change in his voice that Rex would have liked to call anger, but for now he was

unsure.

Placing a hand on Fives’ shoulder, he shook his head in disapproval. “There was nothing that could have been done Fives. We were on a tight schedule, things were going so fast…we didn’t have time to go back, we didn’t have time to look for him. We were there for one thing and that was to rescue Master Piell and Captain Tarkin. You can’t blame yourself for something that couldn’t be fixed—”

 

It was then Fives sat up, quickly brushing Rex’s hand off his shoulder. He glared at him, and now his face was cold. “Tight schedule? Is that your excuse?”

 

“Excuse? It’s not an excuse?”

 

“Tight enough for us to stop in the  _middle_ of our escape to have a funeral for Master Piell?” He blared. “Does that not seem hypocritical to you? Have you ever thought how simple it would be to go back and look for Echo if he was one of  _them?”_ There was venom now and Rex could here it, the way Fives said it, “ _them”_ felt like a wound to the chest. “Or what if it was Skywalker or Kenobi in that position, or even Commander Tano? You can guarantee that we would have made time for them. _Especially_ if it was the General’s precious Padwan–”

 

“Fives—”

 

“But to them, Echo was just a tool…just a solider meant to  _die._ That’s what we were made for right?” He went off at the end, as his tone grew more somber with realization.

 

All the while, Rex remained silent, not attempting to physically comfort Fives again, at least not then. He contemplated on all his friend had said, and though he tried to filter out those painful truths and realizations, he could not. Fives was right.

 

Why had they stopped for Master Piell when there was obviously no time to spare?  Just so soon after they’d abandoned Echo to his death.  It wasn’t fair, and it wasn’t right…but it had happened, and no one bat and eye. Not even General Skywalker and  _certainly_ not General Kenobi.

 

“I shouldn’t be taking my anger out on your, Rex.” Fives intruded his thoughts, gaining attention. “I’m sorry it just…it hurts. I miss him, I miss Echo. I know that we’re all brothers, but Echo was the closest to a brother I’ve ever felt. Now that feeling is gone. I feel empty and the only thing I feel other than emptiness is anger. Anger toward the Jedi for not caring, but that doesn’t do me any good.” He took a deep breath. “I’m sorry Rex.”

“Don’t apologize.”  Rex shook his head. “No, I understand. It hurts I know. I wish I had better words to offer.”

There was a silence for only a brief while. Fives hunched over again, his face not blank, but dejected. “I miss him.” He repeated again. “I miss everything about him. I miss how he’d stay up on that damn data pad all night, I miss how he could recite regulations like the back of his hand. He’d get picked on for it, for all of it…for trying to be on point but, he never let it get to him….”

“What else do you miss about him?” Rex urged, placing a hand on Fives again. “I didn’t know him like you did. So keep on.”

 

Fives perked up just a bit, a gleam in his eyes returning at the invitation. “W…well….I can tell you a lot of things about him then.” There was an enthusiasm in his voice that for a moment, cloaked the sadness. Rex silently beckoned him to go on, a faint smile on his face.

 

And so that is what Fives did, for hours. He talked about Echo; told Rex things that he didn’t know about him. Nothing awful or anything of the sort…all things that Rex thought expected from Echo. He told Rex about their time on Kamino , up until his death.

 

By the end of it, when there was nothing more to say, Rex felt a terrible pain in his heart. It was as if now, after spending such a long time getting to know about Echo, he was gone. Truly gone. When Fives grew silent and went back to his crouched position, it was as if a presence had vanished and it hit Rex that Echo really was gone. He could fully understand that pain Fives felt now, and no amount of memories or reflection would ever bring Echo back. He could feel his anger as well, at the ignorance of the Jedi and how dismissive they were of Echo’s demise, yet catered to one of their own. Well, did they really consider Echo one of their own? Did they consider any of them ‘one of their own’.

“I miss him to Fives.” Rex finally admitted.

 

“Yeah.” It was then , Fives’ voice sounded different. “I just wish…we went back for him. I…I would have gone back…even if it meant me…me defying orders…I should have gone back…”

 

“You would have died.”

 

“I would have  _gladly_ accepted it!” Fives nearly yelled, eyes widened and stern, yet still as broken as before. “If it meant dying for my brother, I would have gone! I should have gone back!”

 

And then, Rex finally saw how Fives’ shattered; how the wall he had erected since Echo’s death began to crumble leaving a very distraught Fives in its wake.

 

He had finally collapsed.

 

As his head fell in his hands and his shoulders trembled, Rex stared and tried his best to keep himself together. He didn’t say a word as he moved closer to Fives and pulled him into a hug, and much to his surprise, Fives leaned into his embrace. He held on to his captain like his life depended on it, and he did not let go.   Rex said nothing as Fives cried, he only allowed himself to be used for support. There was nothing he could say to make this situation better; nothing he could say to relieve Fives’ pain. So he remained silent, hoping that this small moment would alleviate some of his brother’s anguish.

Rex had also realized that the sun had set upon the training ground, and the air grew cool. Rex could now feel himself trembling, and wasn’t sure if it was because of the cold or something else.

 


End file.
